"This is what happened before our confrontation," Symonds said in the Herald Sun. "Brett Lee had just sent down a delivery and Harbhajan took off down the wicket. When he was returning to his crease, he decided to hit Brett on the backside. I have no idea why he did it. I was standing nearby and when I saw what happened, I thought, 'Hold on, that's not on'. I'm a firm believer in sticking up for your team-mate..."
From Justice Hansen's judgment on January 29:
Anyone observing this incident would take it to be a clear acknowledgement of "well bowled". However Mr Symonds took objection to this...
Mr Symonds appears to be saying that he finds it unacceptable that an opponent makes a gesture that recognises the skill of one of his own team mates. In the transcript he stated:
"MR MANOHAR: You had any objection to that patting on the back?
MR SYMONDS: Did I have an objection to it -- my objection was that a test match is no place to be friendly with an opposition player, is my objection."
If that is his view I hope it is not one shared by all international cricketers. It would be a sad day for cricket if it is.
No comments:
Post a Comment